Future of Rollins

JIMMY ROLLINS entered the weekend series with the Cubs needing just two hits to pass Mike Schmidt and become the Phillies' all-time leader. He got one last night to tie the record.

But here's hoping that the rest of Rollins' career fares better than Schmidt's did after he passed Richie Ashburn to claim the mark himself.

The Hall of Fame third baseman, who was about 4 years older at the time than Rollins is now, doubled in the first inning of a 3-2 win in Pittsburgh on April 20, 1989, to pass Whitey. He added another double in the fifth inning . . . but from that point on he went 15-for-94 (.160) and promptly retired on May 29.

Schmidt entered that record-setting night in Pittsburgh with a career batting average of .269; Rollins entered this Cubs series with a career average of .268.

By the way, the day before Schmidt broke Ashburn's mark, his former teammate Steve Carlton officially announced his retirement. He had bounced around the major leagues (Giants, White Sox, Indians, Twins) after being released by the Phillies on June 24, 1986.

* Before you get too excited about the Phillies' three-game sweep of the Padres, be aware that when San Diego came into Citizens Bank Park last Tuesday, they were hitting .127 as a team in June. They went 18-for-105 (.171) in their three losses in South Philly.

* It has come to our attention that on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs roster currently are a Blanco (Andres), a Castro (Leandro), a Cedeno (Ronny) and a Franco (Maikel).

* The Miami Heat on Thursday night became the second team in NBA history to lose consecutive Finals games by 19 or more points. The first was the 1977 Sixers, who dropped Game 3 (129-107) and Game 4 (130-98) to the Portland Trail Blazers.

* In the last week, the San Antonio Spurs have recorded the two best shooting quarters in NBA Finals history.